Two Republican lawmakers today voted against sending the name of former labor boss Ellen Golombek to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation.

But Golombek easily survived the questioning, which some Democrats in the audience later said wasn’t as intense as expected.

“Let me begin as your governor begins, with jobs, jobs, jobs,” Golombek said in her opening remarks to a Senate committee.

Sens. Shawn Mitchell, of Broomfield, said a number of businesses questioned why Gov. John Hickenlooper appointed her to oversee the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment considering her past activities with labor and progressive politics.

Mitchell pointed to a Westword 1999 article where Golombek was quoted as saying limiting costs for businesses for workers compensation was akin to “corporate welfare.”

Golombek said she didn’t remember the article, but she pledged to work with all sides and to follow the laws of Colorado.

The other Republican on the Senate Business Affairs & Labor Committee, Sen. Jean White, of Hayden, vote for a favorable recommendation as did the Democrats. (White’s husband, former Sen. Al White, also is a Hickenlooper appointee, serving as head of the tourism office. That appointment does not require Senate confirmation.)

Mitchell pointed out that Golembek in 1999 opposed the nomination of former state Rep. Vickie Armstrong as Gov. Bill Owens’ labor department chief. (Mitchell didn’t add that Owens later got rid of Armstrong because of her performance.)

Golombek had a better showing than Armstrong. Armstrong was a Republican, Owens was a Republican and Republicans had the majority on the committee. Yet Armstrong’s name was forwarded to the full Senate with a unfavorable recommendation. She survived the full Senate vote 22-12.